"Official" Sony STR-DA3600, 4600, 5600ES Receiver thread - Page 2

The 5600es is out but you have to go through a custom installer to get one, the link to find one is posted above.... And the 5600 does work with 3D, I have not tried it yet, but like I said so far it is a great receiver I have not had an issues in the whole 2 days I have had it which is more than I can say for the 5300es I previously had.

Any 5600 owners know how/ can u play 360 via hdmi and listen to a different audio source? ( multi-in) my 5300es could but the multi-in button on the 5600 doent seen to do anything....

Not sure if they plan to carry it. Anyplace in san jose, ca this is selling ?

ABT Electronics carries it. They will ship.

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on the 3600. For the last few weeks I have been so close to buying a denon 991 but then I took a look at one of these at a local shop. I am in love with the networking capabilities and the store owner said the ipod touch/ipad control app is beyond cool. Also the ability to adjust reciever settings from your networked pc could be interesting. I never thought I would be buying a Sony receiver but it just might happen. Anyways congrats to me on post #1. Cheers fellas.

I had similar feelings when I ended up getting a 5600. I had intended to look at Integra but was able to get a great deal on the Sony. I'm actually pretty blown away by it. I've been using it about a week now and would summarize that it's better than expected. The setup software is slick. I work with Denon/Integra day to day and and am rather impressed these new ES receivers.

As for sound quality, I'm very happy. I usually power my L/R with a large stereo Parasound amp, but I've been using the Receiver amp to test it out. While naturally I have to raise the volume farther to get the same output (130w vs 250+w) the performance is equivalent.

I haven't run into any bugs with the software (receiver or pc) but am hopeful Sony will deliver some new features via software upgrades (mostly new internet music services. The AVR functions seem pretty complete).

Side note: I work in the integration business, so programmer/control junkies might like to know that this receiver controls fantastically. I use Crestron's control module (over IP) for this box and it works great, but given the amount of control the pc setup software has over the receiver (Via IP) there is clearly some additional control possible via IP. So far it seems as reliable to control as Denon/Integra, which is a big relief for me.

Scott

Great to hear more good things about the new ES line. The combo of the ethernet hub, the ipod control app, and the 5 year warranty is ultimately what sold me. The 5600 would of been nice but it wasn't quite in the budget and the 4600 did seem like it was quite worth the extra money.

Got my 5600ES into play and am struggling a bit with the simultaneous HDMI out.

Seems to work ok for DVD and AppleTV/Netflix, aside from the noticeable switching as the second Sony TV comes on/off line.

Not so when the source is a Motorola DCT 6412 III on Shaw Cable (Vancouver BC). It seems that it can't get into sync and switches continuously.

I'm wondering if the output resolution or power of the Motorola is insufficient or if have missed something configuration. I'm not a total newbie but at the same time no expert, just a geek that likes his toys

Actual installation went pretty good as I was replacing on older Sony AV Amp. My main reason for upgrading was the simultaneous HDMI out so that I could feed an adjoining room easier.
The Win7 setup software doesn't run after an initial run but that's ok setup via GUI or the amp itself is pretty good/easy.

Any help/suggestions re the cable box will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Edit: After more searching re DCT 6412 III I found that it is a common problem. I'll be re-configuring to use Component Input. Was debating wether to just delete this post but maybe there are others following that can rest easier that it's not a problem with the receiver.

Edit2: Problem with upscaling is that automatic screen adjustments between 4:3 and 16:9 are lost. Not very cool to look at stretched 4:3. I could never understand what the designers were thinking.
Anyways, I ended up feeding the Component from the CableBox to my second set and HDMI to the 5600ES. Not as convenient as I had hoped for but workable until a smarter/normal CableBox is offered. Open to alternative suggestions

I purchased the 5600 online for a really good price. It arrived, factory sealed, after a week delay.

I initially had issues losing video. I have the 5600 connected to a Qualia 006 via HDMI. I typically am viewing a TiVo S3 connected to the 5600 via HDMI. I would continue to get audio, but the picture would go black. After this occurred, I could not get a picture from any other component (blu-ray, xbox 360, PS3) either. I wasn't sure if it was a cable issue or 5600 issue. Unplugging and replugging the HDMI cable would bring back the picture. Online chat suggested I change one of the video settings on the 5600, since the Q006 only receives resolution input as high as 1080i. The problem was after changing the setting, I no longer received the on screen GUI, which I like, especially volume control. In any event, I'm on my third HDMI cable (high speed, high quality) and all appears to be working correctly. I post this in case anyone else has similar issues.

I have a Sony Blu-ray Player, the S470, and just can't seem to get "True HD" or "DTS-HD" working with my Sony STR-DA5600ES receiver, really not seeing anything obvious that I have set wrong on either end.

More details posted here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...=#post19735979

Any ideas?

Make sure that under settings of your BD player for Audio, the BD Mix is set to off if you have that option; also your Audio Output Priority is set to HDMI and BD Audio Setting is set to Direct.

As indicated on page 23 of the Sony BDP-S470 instruction manual here:
http://www.docs.sony.com/release/BDPS470.pdf

I set "BD Audio MIX Setting" to Off
I set "Audio (HDMI)" to Auto (but note, I'm using HDMI from Blu-ray player to TV and Blu-ray player optical output directly to my receiver)
I set "Dolby Digital (Coaxial / Optical)" to "Dolby Digital"
I set "DTS (Coaxial / Optical)" to DTS

Those are the only settings I see as relevant, but still no luck.

Any other ideas?

Hi tinkererguy, its the way you have it connected. For HD audio, connect BD player directly to receiver via HDMI.

Yes optical only goes to sd 5.1

I tried using Coax digital cable from Blu-ray player to Receiver's SACD Coax input, set to A.F.D., and it doesn't make any difference, still no "True HD" or "DTS-HD" modes illuminating on the Receiver display.

Use hdmi

Yep, you're right, it's only going to work with HDMI, thank you joncreid!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_TrueHD
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTS-HD

HDMI connection straight to DA5600ES receiver worked out great, DTS-MA and TrueHD, but I still had to go with HD-D.C.S set to Dynamic (instead of A.F.D.) mode on receiver to get rear speaker (6.1 system) working.

I also set a 30ms delay (set in receiver rather than on Blu-ray player) to fixed lip sync perfectly.

Now I just need to "test" how it sounds, it when the family isn't sleeping ;-)

The resign your not getting 6.1 from AFD is because the encoded blueray is a 5.1 dts-ma or a trueHD. The AFD only outputs what it is given. Think of it like direct plus the subwoofer If you had a 6.1 encoded blueray then you would get 6.1 working

Thanks for the heads up. My Moto DVR keeps switching to 480i. I thought I was crazy. I set up my 4600 and this was driving me crazy! Did you ever come up with a solution?

Also what remote code did you use? I can't seem to find one that works.

Hi

I bought the str-da3600es in december 2010 here in Denmark and was expecting that I could use the IPhone app "AV receiver Remote" from the us app store, but it sont work. I have had hours of dialogue with Sony support Nordic and Sony support USA, but almost noone knew anything ajour it. Finally talking to a Sony-specialist in San Diego got mé a conclusion that it probably was a firmware problem in the Nordic version of the str-da3600es. But I didn't get anyone to really dó something, so I'm stuck. I filed it A's bug in the us AppStore. So I'm waiting

Steen

STR-DN2010 has the same bugs. Thing will not use "Play to" across my network. Tried everything. All my other AVR's work fine.

Sony customer support is void.

Replace a GREAT SONY ES-555 for this and the quality of the new SONY products are not as good as they used to be.

Glad I have a 4308CI Denon in my main room. It REALLY works!

Hello Everyone,

Hope all is well.

I just received my 5600ES and it seems to be running hot. In my experience, Sony units typically run warm but this unit maintains an unusually warm temperature even when its on standby. I thought there was an issue with the speaker's impedence setting not sticking so I unlpugged everything from the receiver and it still stayed warm. The unit is placed on top of a ventilated, stereo cabinet. Anyone else having this issue?

Otherwise, the sound quality is absolutely amazing. Granted, you do have to turn up the volume when using the internal amp, but that's not of great concern. Getting the autocalibration to work correctly took some tweaking, but its now working great. I wish it had dual subwoofer outputs like the Yamaha.

It's a great receiver, I am very happy with my purchase, and I would highly recommend it. ABT.com carries the units and will 2-day ship it for free.

Thank you for the great information on this forum.

I noticed, using a Watts-up monitoring device, that the 5600ES uses about 78 watts on on standby, and only goes up to about 100 when in heavy/loud use. Admittedly, this is a cheap meter, and it could be a running-average issue, hiding much higher watt spikes.

Anyhow, given I turned off the always-on network feature, it seems this may be an oversite on Sony's part in the current firmware (integrated network switch in the back stays lit up even when receiver on standby, but the receiver doesn't respond to ping). Perhaps this can be fixed with future firmware update?

I haven't yet tested with factory defaults (after saving settings to PC with very helpful Sony Setup Manager software the receiver came with), mostly because I moved on. That is, I now use a smart power switch that senses TV power draw and turns on the amp only when TV is on. Actually, the switch essentially plugs receiver in when the TV is on, and unplugs receiver when TV is off. This prevents standby power draw entirely (except for 1 watt the smart strip uses). It works nicely in my situation, because the receiver is smart enough to restore last power stat and actually powers on when plugged in instead of just going into standby.

Interesting to note that my 55" LCD LED TV HX800 only uses about 75 watts during normal TV viewing.

If I recall correctly... there are 3 things (or maybe 4) that had to be turned off to get the standby power down to a low level. The Network/router function was just one of those. CEC (Sony may have a different name for this - control over HDMI) was another thing that had to be turned off to get power use down. I don't remember the other 1 or 2 features that have to be off for low standby power consumption - but they were listed in the manual. Would be interested to know if turning them all off does lower the standby power consumption to a reasonable level (single digit watts).

There is a very useful review of the STR-DA5600ES in the newest edition of Widescreen Review. The conclusion says that the sound quality is very good for its price range, but is does seem to have some networking issues with different DLNA servers. J. River Media Center 15 should work flawlessly, or so the review says.

From the Spec sheet:
HDMI 1.4a Compliant - 3D Pass-Through and Audio Return Channel (ARC)
All 2010 ES receivers feature HDMI 1.4a.

Sure,
I have a 4600 but I thin,k they are all the same. Can you send ma a PM with the details?

I have a STR-DA5600ES. Does anyone know if this receiver can upscale video input from cable TV box via HDMI or via component cabling hook up? If the latter, should I hook up my cable box via component cables? Is there any downside to that?
Also, does anyone know if my Panasonic TC-P65VT25 attempts to upscale video input via HDMI from the 5600ES?
I have this 7.1 system up and running well with Sony BDP-1700ES Blu-ray, Paradigm Studio-100 (2), Studio CC-690, Studio ADP590 (4) & Signature Sub1. The 5600ES receiver calibration detects all seven speakers as large and the Sony receiver manual seems to indicate that Sony's preference is to have all speakers set at large.
I called Paradigm and tech support (Andrew C.) suggests to essentially set up all speakers at 80 Hz and set the sub to bypass. When I try this in my setup the bass sound output from the towers AND the sub are lower and it doesn't sound as good. This is suprising since the sub should put out more bass when set up this way. Is this a flaw of the 5600ES receiver that it doesn't do the crossover function to sub well for speakers set to small? One would think that a receiver in this price range should have the flexibility and ability to cross over speakers to subwoofer at any reasonable chosen frequency. Any insight into this (and how to fix it or set it up properly) from the gurus on this thread would be much appreciated.
By the way, for anyone interested - I have the receiver hooked up to my home wireless network by Ethernet cable to Apple Airport Extreme base station (an extra unit I had laying around unused) and then used Mac Airport Utility to join my existing wireless network. This works really well and I can access the receiver with my Macbook Pro (with Windows 7/VMWare fusion) wirelessly to use Sony Setup Manager and access Shoutcast, Rhapsody, & future receiver software upgrades, etc.
Thanks and Best Regards